Skip to main content

Uganda facts

UGANDA FACTS

Uganda gained Independence from the United Kingdom on October 9, 1962

Total Area: 241,038 sq km

Borders: Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and Tanzania

Natural Resources: Copper, cobalt, hydropower, limestone, salt, arable land and gold

Population: 34-35 million with 4.7% being Acholi

Population below Poverty line: Nationally 35%, Northern Uganda 65%

Median Age of Population: 15.1 yrs

Life Expectancy: 53.24 yrs

GDP: $17,010,765,767 USD

Currency: Ugandan Shilling

(CIA Factbook)


A reminder: Kony now is in the jungles of Congo, creating havoc and heart-ache there, just as he did here in Northern Uganda and in South Sudan. Here's one NGO's take on the last two decades of conflict:

OVER 2 DECADES OF CONFLICT

The conflict in Northern Uganda is one of the longest running conflicts in Africa and has spread to neighbouring countries. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) was created in 1986 to fight a spiritual war on behalf of the Acholi people. It is led by Kony Joseph and its original goal was to overthrow the Museveni Government and replace it with one based on the biblical ten commandments. In recent years, this political motivation has been questioned.

In the early nineties, the LRA began large scale abductions and attacks against Acholi civilians. In total, 1 in 3 boys and 1 in 6 girls were abducted in Northern Uganda; for a total of 66,000 children. These children were forced to take up arms against their communities and innocent civilians. They were forced to serve as sex slaves, labourers and porters. At the peak of the conflict over 1.8 million people or 80% of the population were internally displaced, living in camps. This led to disruptions in education, the provision of services and economic activity; with many people forced to live off begging.

The 2006 ceasefire and Juba Peace Talks increased hope amongst the people, and large scale movement from the camps began in 2008. Unfortunately, Kony refused to sign the Final Agreement in 2008 and the LRA is continuing with their abductions and attacks in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and South Sudan.

The Acholi people continue to hope for a resolution to this conflict, and believe that peace will come from mediation rather than military action.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Family of Three!

We are in Liberia - the electricity goes in and out because the generator is having trouble keeping up these days! So hopefully it will stay on long enough to post and the internet connection will allow me this luxury! We were united with precious Gracie on Thanksgiving day - I will write more about this later. But, oh! is Gracie a joy! She is so beautiful, so joyfilled, and a bit mischievious. Her physical limitations do not permit her to accomplish much mischief, but we can tell that she is trying to push some limits already. If we were not in love with her already, she is irresitable and such a treasure and blessing from God. In our two days together, she has not cried once. She spends most of her days smiling, she loves to snuggle (good match for us!), and has the most contagious laugh! Life takes more effort for her - her cerebral palsy is moderate and every activity is a challenge and is clearly tiring for her. Meal times (which she loves) take a long time and much patience and d...
6 comments
Read more

New Stage of Life

Gracie has entered a new developmental stage. She now is active and has been rolling all over the floor. We cleared out a little living room so that she would have room to roll around - she's rolling front to back, both directions. She also has been much easier to get up on all fours - it used to take 3-4 adults to cram her into the crawling position due to her resistance. She now even spontaneously gets into a semi-crawling position on her own. In the crawling position she's been weight bearing even on her right arm (but always in combination with her left arm). She also has been rocking a little in the crawling position as if she gets it that this is a way that you can move! It's been so exciting. But it also makes her much more eager to be down with other kids and moving around. She's in a very active active stage, always moving, and wanting to move. She's also taken, not just a huge interest in other kids, but also interest in toys a bit more. She's so fun!
4 comments
Read more

The Foolishness of God's Calling

A friend shared with me how "strange" (and scary) our decisions appear to those observing our lives. Most people are barely surviving residency and then for me to decide to adopt, to decide to adopt a child with special needs, to decide to adopt this child from the uncertainty of Liberia, to decide to start my Master's of Public Health during residency... it all seems crazy and overwhelming to the observer. But what my friend did not take into account is that God's calling on our lives will not always appear sane. Our choices are neither noble nor insane if they are what God has called us to. These choices are simply obedience to sovereign God! We are not living for life in this world, we are in fact aliens to this world and shouldn't settle down and get too comfortable because our joy is in heaven. God calls each of us to "not waste our lives" but live each day with an eternal focus. With an eternal focus, we should not only adopt a child with disabil...
4 comments
Read more